Because of environmental concerns, green (alternative) energy production has gained popularity. With increased research and funds being dedicated to green energy, major improvements have been made in the fields of solar-based, wind-based and ocean wave-based power generation technologies, bringing about an increase in their efficiency and a decrease in the cost of the power produced by such technologies. However, solar-based, wind-based and ocean-based power generation technologies cannot produce electrical energy at all times, as they depend on external conditions which are not always available, such as sunlight, wind or waves. Therefore, the use of these alternative energy technologies is limited to specific times of the day or year.
In order to make energy produced by solar, wind or wave based systems available at all times, battery banks are used to store the produced energy, and supply it at will. Battery banks, however, are expensive to buy and maintain, and therefore their operation increases the cost of power production. Additionally, the manufacture of most batteries is generally not a carbon-neutral process, thus bringing about negative environmental impact and staining the clean energy production of green energy technologies.